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Greece to deny support to Iranian oil tanker under US pressure

Greece has told Tehran it will not aid the Iranian flagged vessel by allowing it to dock. The US had suggested anyone cooperating with the tanker's requests was also assisting Iranian and Syrian campaigns of terror.

The supertanker, known as Adrian Darya 1, had spent more than six weeks detained in Gibraltar but set sail on Sunday. The Greek port of Kalamata was suggested as its destination. But this notion received a firm response from Athens.

"We are sending a message that we are not prepared to facilitate the course of this ship to Syria," said Deputy Foreign Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis. "This is a message that we have made very clear."

Varvitsiotis admitted Athens had "faced pressure" from Washington over Adrian Darya 1 but Greece "did not wish to facilitate the transport of this oil to Syria under any circumstances."

The US Department of State said the vessel is "transporting illicit oil to fuel the Iranian and Syrian campaigns of terror and oppression," and companies and mariners who assist it could be considered as providing support.

The Department of State said Monday it "conveyed [Washington's] strong position to the Greek government on the matter."

Meanwhile, Greece's Varvitsiotis said there had been no communication with Tehran on the issue.

"Nobody from the Iranian government has asked us for anything," he said. "In any case, I don't think the Iranian government is involved — it's a commercial venture for which there may be some government support."